Object-Oriented JavaScript: Create scalable, reusable high-quality JavaScript applications and libraries (Paperback)

by Stoyan Stefanov (Author)
Key Phrases: primitive data types, typeof somevar, object literal notation, Pacific Standard Time, The Browser Environment, Document Object Model (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Once listed in the "nice to have" sections of job postings, these days the knowledge of JavaScript is a deciding factor when it comes to hiring web developers. And rightly so. Where in the past we used to have the occasional few lines of JavaScript embedded in a web page, now we have advanced libraries and extensible architectures, powering the "fat-client", AJAX-type rich internet applications.

JavaScript is the language of the browser, but it's also heavily employed in many other environments: server-side programming, desktop applications, application extensions and widgets. It's a pretty good deal: you learn one language and then code all kinds of different applications. While this book has one chapter specifically dedicated to the web browser environment including DOM, events, and AJAX tutorials, the rest is applicable to all the other environments too.

This book treats JavaScript as a serious object-oriented language, showing you how to build robust, maintainable, and powerful libraries and applications. Along the way, we cover many of the recent innovations such as AJAX, JSON, and interesting design and coding patterns. After reading this book, you'll be prepared to ace your JavaScript job interview and even impress with some bits that the interviewer maybe didn't know. You should read this book if you want to be able to take your JavaScript skills to a new level of sophistication.

What you will learn from this book?

* Learn to think in JavaScript, the language of the web browser
* The basics of object-oriented programming, and how they apply to JavaScript
* Set up and use your training environment (Firebug)
* Master data types, operators, and flow control statements
* Understand functions: usage patterns, variable scope, and built-in functions
* Closures demystified
* Create and use objects
* Understand and use prototypes
* Reuse code with common patterns for inheritance
* Understand and work with the BOM (Browser Object Model)
* The DOM (Document Object Model) - accessing, modifying, adding, and deleting nodes
* Build responsive web pages with AJAX
* JSON (JavaScript Object Notation)
* Listen and respond to browser events
* Apply design patterns to solve common problems
* Adopt coding patterns that unleash the unique power of the language
* Make your programs cleaner, faster, and compatible with other programs and libraries
* Achieve missing object-oriented features in JavaScript such as private properties and methods

Who is this book written for?

The book requires no prior knowledge of JavaScript and works from the ground up to give you a thorough grounding in this powerful language. If you do already know some JavaScript, you will find plenty of eye-openers as you discover just what the language can do.

This book takes a do-it-yourself approach when it comes to writing code, because the best way to really learn a programming language is by writing code. You are encouraged to type code into Firebug's console, see how it works and then tweak it and play around with it. There are practice questions at the end of each chapter to help review what you have learned.

About the Author
Stoyan Stefanov is a Yahoo! web developer, Zend Certified Engineer, book author, and contributor to the international PHP community.Stoyan is the engineering lead of Yahoo's performance optimization tool 'YSlow', as well as other open-source tools and 'PEAR' libraries.

Product Details

• Paperback: 356 pages
• Publisher: Packt Publishing (July 24, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1847194141
• ISBN-13: 978-1847194145
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #50,830 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best JavaScript on Object Oriented Programming, August 2, 2008

By	Frank Stepanski (PA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Object-Oriented JavaScript by Stoyan Stefanov is a first among JavaScript books in my opinion. OOP in JavaScript is not new, but has gained much popularity since the use of JavaScript in Ajax and the development of JavaScript libraries and widgets from various web companies (especially Yahoo!). Learning how to create component-based applications using JavaScript is not an easy thing to master if all you know about JavaScript is doing "mouse-overs" or neat little effects. There really isn't a book out there that really explains how OOP works in JavaScript completely.

There are books from Apress and WROX that are geared towards "intermediate" topics in JavaScript such as creating objects and so forth, but they quickly go into sing custom libraries which really doesn't teach you anything apart from using a library.

This book really goes into detail in explaining how the syntax of JavaScript can be used to create scalable applications from the ground-up. I would say this book is geared for the developer who has a grasp on the language itself but wants to learn more in creating real useful applications for the web using JavaScript and wants to learn without depending on any pre-built library or component.

The author goes into the basics of the language first (chapter 1-2) then spends a chapter on functions (chapter 3) which is the many ways in JavaScript to create objects. Since JavaScript is not a fully OO language, it can get confusing on understanding the many different ways to create an object. Stoyan explains it very well with many examples so anybody can understand it.

The next few chapters (4 - 6), the author goes into OOP practices like how objects work, the Prototype built-in object, inheritance, and many of the built-in methods and properties you can use to manipulate your custom objects. Yes, object literal notation is covered in-depth since it really is the standard way in JavaScript to create objects.

The rest of the book has some excellent chapters on the BOM, DOM, Ajax and Design Patterns which really round out the book and make it worth it. I have never seen a book so complete on some of the more intermediate to advanced features of JavaScript and explaining it so anybody can learn it.

Go get yourself a copy of this book today!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the top books in the field, October 26, 2008

By	E. Welker (Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Having read a large number of JavaScript books, I would say that this is easily one of the best around. The introductory chapters are above average, and thoughtfully mention a number of useful details. The core chapters in the book describe Functions, Objects, Prototype, and Inheritance. These chapters alone are worth the price of the book. They are probably clearer than any other book on the subject.

Beginners and moderate JavaScript users will gain a great deal from this book, and advanced users will also find it useful. Highly recommended.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book for any level programmer, October 29, 2008

By	Evan Larsen - See all my reviews

This is a well written book, I recommend that everyone wanting to get into javascript programming go pick up this book. I first bought JavaScript: The Definitive guide by Oreily because everyone in the JavaScript community said thats the most detailed book on javascript. But that book was like reading a dictionary and I would get bored with it pretty quick. This book "Object-Oriented Javascript" is a wonderful read, its well structured. Flowing from 1 chapter to another giving you everything you need to know like building blocks laying out a strong foundation.

Before I read this book I wasnt comfortable with javascript at all, but now I feel like I can do just about anything with it. I really liked the chapters on Prototyping and the section on closures work. The author really tries hard to show how javascript works by not only explaining it in laymen terms but also having diagrams to help illustrate his point. The examples are kept short and to the point and he has many examples to help get all his points across.

The way this book is layed out it will make for a good desktop reference.

Stoyan Stefanov, I'm looking forward to any more books you might come out with.